First Pairing
Left Side: Thomas Chabot
No surprises here, Chabot is the crown jewel on the back end and will have another chance to lead the NHL in ice-time much like he did last season. Still trying to find a competent partner after the Chabot-Zaitsev pairing was hot garbage last season, Erik Gudbranson now steps in for a trial.
Chabot’s pedestrian numbers last season can be attributed to multiple things; defensive partners, lack of talent around him, the quality of the team last season didn’t help him in the least. A drop in production of 16 points from the year prior to just 39 points last season shouldn’t leave people worried, as the team improves through the rebuild Chabot will likely exceed his career highs.
The quarterback on a much-improved Senators powerplay unit this season, Chabot likely crushes his totals produced last season, at least on a per-game basis. This group of players is just filthy:
Our first sneak-peek at what could be Sens first unit PP.
— Ian Mendes (@ian_mendes) January 12, 2021
Batherson-Tkachuk-Dadonov
Chabot-Norris
And Batherson just finished a beauty give-and-go with Dadonov for a goal.
Interesting note: Tkachuk took the faceoffs.
Chabot’s career projection is taking a similar trajectory to that of Washington Capitals defenceman John Carlson:
Chabot started to climb a bit later than the average star but he's a star in the NHL and will remain there for the foreseeable future.
— Byron Bader (@ByronMBader) August 14, 2020
Check out more here: https://t.co/bsZaThZTds https://t.co/e8OqZ6yuM3 pic.twitter.com/1GIu1fW1Z0
There’s no doubt Chabot is a star defenceman in the NHL and likely throughout the remainder of the decade.
2020-21 Prediction: 56GP 9G 32A 41P
Right Side: Erik Gudbranson
Chabot’s new running mate, Gudbranson has obviously impressed throughout camp and has given coach D.J. Smith no choice but to place him alongside the team’s star defenceman.
Gudbranson had a slight career revival last season when he was traded to Anaheim to play with Cam Fowler, his metrics were better than his previous seasons, but he is far from a hot commodity.
Erik Gudbranson, traded to OTT, is big and strong pic.twitter.com/MnVCuR9O1i
— JFresh (@JFreshHockey) October 8, 2020
Everything about Gudbranson screams “replacement level”, he’s big and there’s not much else to say about him, however, it’s likely he will be more effective than Nikita Zaitsev was last season.
Not known for his offensive acumen, Gudbranson has a career-high of 13 points and has only surpassed 10 points once. A UFA at the end of the season and unless he acts as a surprisingly good partner for Chabot, he’s likely a good trade chip at the deadline.
2020-21 Prediction: 52GP 2G 4A 6P